Excellence in Teaching Award, School of Biological Sciences, UCI. 2001Fellow of the Royal Society (U.K.). 2008Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2009Norman Weinberger Award for Lifetime Achievement in Research: Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, UC Irvine. 2012NIH MERIT Award. 2011-2021

Research Abstract

Our interests lie in the area of cell signaling, i.e. the ways in which cells communicate with each other as well as within themselves.

To study these processes we have developed optical techniques for stimulating intracellular messenger pathways and for recording the resulting changes in intracellular free calcium. Photolabile "caged" compounds, such as caged inositol trisphosphate can be loaded into cells and then be induced to release a precisely controlled amount of free messenger by stimulation with a flash of ultraviolet light. For example, calcium that is liberated from intracellular stores by the photo released inositol trisphosphate can then be recorded using laser confocal and two-photon imaging of fluorescence signals from long wavelength calcium indicator dyes.

Projects presently underway in the lab include:

1. Investigation of the mechanisms underlying the generation of 'elementary' calcium signals, and their roles in generating global cellular calcium signals.

For more information, please click on the link above to go to our LAB WEBSITE (http://parkerlab.bio.uci.edu/index.htm). This contains a full list of publications, including downloadable pdf files; as well as pictures, movies; complete instructions on building your own two-photon microscope; and lots more good stuff.